On the Nemesis
by Prime627
Summary: Optimus released the Matrix. He lost his memories and reverted to his pre-Prime state. What happened to him on the Nemesis? (Generally told through Orion's optics)
1. Chapter 1

_Optimus opened his chamber, revealing the legendary Matrix of Leadership to the being that was Unicron, or what was his spark. The being began to shudder in fear. It was, after all, his enemy. "Matrix," he whispered. "Light our darkest hour."_

_ The Matrix did just that. The bright blue light that came from it targeted Unicron and him alone, and it lit up the chamber that was Unicron's spark chamber. He closed his optics and let the Matrix do as it was created to do._

_ A tear rolled down his cheek. He had been told what could possibly happen if the collected wisdom of the Primes were released. He knew that he would probably not make it home. He knew Megatron, but he had a job to do, if this planet was to live through Unicron's awakening._

_ The world spun while the Matrix started to flicker at the loss of power. Unicron howled as he began to power down, permanently. He fell to his knees, then to his belly._

Orion opened his optics slowly, trying to focus. He saw Megatronus' face. He smiled weakly, then looked around in confusion. "Where are we, Megatronus?" He sounded…odd. Older. What had happened to him?

Megatronus flinched slightly as if Orion had hit him. He frowned at his friend's reaction, but shrugged it off as he took Megatronus' offered servo. He let the bigger mech pull him to his pedes and he smiled slightly at him before the chamber (Orion had decided it was probably an anteroom to some larger chamber) opened and three beings ran in.

"Optimus!"

"What did you do to him, Megatron!?"

Orion looked at his friend, blinking when he felt something slide away from his mouth. A _battle mask_? When did he get a battle mask? He decided it was not as important as the new arrivals. "Who are they? Why did they call me Optimus?"

"Those are our enemies, Orion! Get through that GroundBridge. Hurry! I'll cover you! Just get out of here!" Megatronus crushed a kiss to the data clerk's mouth. Orion felt secure and he did as he was told, trusting him.

Megatronus was his mate, after all.

When Megatronus joined Orion, the first thing the mech did was clean his dusty armor. He giggled and squirmed under the water as it fell around him, but he was concerned. Megatronus was acting…weird. He looked up at his face as he splashed water at him. The mech looked like he had not seen Orion in ages, but he clearly remembered falling asleep in Megatronus' arms yesterday.

The silver mech finally turned off the water and tucked the data clerk into a warm towel. "Come, Orion. Let us get you situated."

Orion didn't recognize the hallway they walked into. "Where are we?"

"On the _Nemesis_, a warship."

"Why?"

"Because we have to."

"Why?"

Orion walked beside him as he had, questioning the mech as he had. Megatronus was flinching and frowning as if he did not expect this. He was _always_ questioning Megatronus, sometimes playfully, and sometimes seriously.

This was one of the latter times.

"Because, Orion, my dear, dear mate…we have been forced off Cybertron by the Autobot aggressors. We must remain on this warship until we can find out how to revive Cybertron."

"Revive Cybertron? Megatronus, are you being silly?"

"Orion, you have been kidnapped and tortured by the Autobots. I do not expect you to remember any of it, as it was a terrible experience for you. We have just rescued you, and let me assure you that you will never be harmed again."

Orion frowned as he looked up at him. He didn't remember anything, just like Megatronus said he wouldn't, and it didn't make since. Why was he kidnapped? What would the "Autobots" want with a data clerk? He was nothing special. He was just an ordinary mech.

"I know it is a lot to take in, my love. But you are safe now, here with me. You should rest. I have something for you to do in the morning that would interest you. You still enjoy research and decoding?"

Orion squealed softly and he jumped up and down on his pede-tips. "Yes!" Megatronus knew that. He had just finished researching the Thirteen Primes. Megatronus had helped him.

"Excellent. I will let you decode the data I have collected while you were…gone. In the meantime, I want you to relax and sleep."

Orion crawled onto the berth that Megatronus guided him to and he purred up at the mech while he squirmed on the sheets like a sparkling. He enjoyed the mech's optics going over his frame that had somehow changed overnight. No, he corrected, over days, maybe years, according to Megatronus.

"You are still so very beautiful, my dear data clerk," Megatronus whispered as he crawled over the mech that squealed and trembled in anticipation.

Soundwave walked to his master's quarters in the morning. He found Optimus bundled against Megatron's chest, and he tipped his helm in confusion. They appeared to have enjoyed themselves during the night and he didn't understand. Was the war suddenly over? Had a truce been called?

Megatron's optics opened and he frowned at the mute spy. "This is Orion Pax."

Soundwave watched him silently, which pretty much meant that he was prepared to call Knockout to examine their obviously defective leader.

"He released the power of the Matrix onto Unicron. He does not know what he was before then. He is Orion Pax now. Make sure he does not wake. I will announce to the troops about the new arrival."

Orion woke up to find Soundwave watching him. He shied away, expecting to lean into Megatronus' bulky form, but instead he fell onto his back and blinked shyly at the mute.

"Where is Megatronus?"

The mute watched him silently, then his shoulders slowly lifted and fell.

Orion giggled at him. He adored the mech. He felt that if he had not been claimed by Megatronus, he would have gone for Soundwave instead.

The door opened then, and Megatronus walked in. "My dear, I have scheduled a physical examination for you in Knockout's medical bay. He will also give us our standard insignia." He tapped his chest where his was. "That is for this evening. I trust that Soundwave behaved himself?" He gave the mute a meaningful glance that Orion didn't understand.

"He did. We were just talking about you before you walked in."

"Ah," Megatron said absently. He was more concerned with Soundwave's visor before he turned to look at his mate. "Did you sleep well?"

Orion purred up at him. "As always."

The mute and the warlord seemed to relax at the same time, and Orion had a momentary feeling that he was being held out of the loop.

As soon as that thought came to him, however, he pushed it away.

Megatronus would never lie to him. He had no reason to worry about Megatronus lying. Megatronus always told him the truth. He even showed it to himself by saying he loved the mech.

Megatronus smiled at him, nodded, and returned the _I love you_.

_See? _Orion thought as he blushed. _You are overreacting._


	2. Chapter 2

Orion was working cheerfully in the office that Megatron set up for him. He had learned to refer to his mate as _Megatron_ and not _Megatronus._ It was a preference, apparently. He didn't mind. He found himself liking the new name that his mate had given himself.

He heard the door open and when he turned, he expected Megatron to be standing in the doorway. He purred as he turned. "I've nearly gotten the first three codes decoded…." He hesitated when he saw a Seeker standing in front of him. He recognized him as Starscream.

"Optimus Prime!?" He dropped the cubes he was carrying (was he stealing them?) and he pointed his weapons at the data clerk. Orion's optics widened and he held up his servos.

"My name is Orion Pax," he murmured. He dropped his gaze and studied the Seeker's heeled pedes. "I am far from being a Prime." He looked up and saw Starscream's stunned expression. "So why did you call me a Prime?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because I am a data clerk."

Starscream lowered his arms and he tipped his helm to the side. Orion watched him, shifting anxiously. Megatron had told him that Starscream had been extinguished by Ratchet, the warlord of this war, though Megatron had referred to him as the Doctor of Doom.

"What are you doing here?" Starscream was the first to break the silence.

"I'm researching, for Megatronus… I mean, for Megatron." Orion blushed. He never stuttered before. So why was he stuttering and stammering and making a fool of himself now?

"Ah…" Starscream made the sound that he understood completely, but his facial expression said otherwise. He was completely lost, but he wasn't going to confess that. Orion smiled slightly.

"Megatron had said you had been killed…" Orion needed to know the truth. His mate couldn't have been lying, but maybe he got his truths mixed up. He was a busy mech, after all.

"Megatron says a lot of things, and only part of which are true," Starscream muttered as he waved his servo, dismissing Orion's statement.

"Do not accuse my mate of speaking lies." He was getting offended. Megatron would never lie to him.

Starscream laughed, as if the whole thing amused him. "You really are being kept in the dark, aren't you? I bet he said that he loved you, and that you were never going to be separated ever again. I bet he told you all of that while he bundled you against his chest…and stroked your helm…kissed your broken wings…" Starscream's optics got cloudy before he gave a firm blink and a shake of his helm. "He's lying to you, Orion, and you're playing right into his claws. He's _using_ you!"

"Megatron would never do that," Orion growled. He had to protect his mate from this Seeker. "Who do you think you are that you can just accuse people like that? Megatron is a good mech, and he wouldn't do anything bad, or mean, or cruel to anyone."

Starscream's wings twitched up and Orion saw the scars. The Seeker's wings were battered, and had obviously been broken several times. They looked like they had been torn off a dead Seeker and stitched carelessly to Starscream's body. Orion backed away, shaking his helm.

"Take a good look, mechling. This is what your mate is capable of, and he wouldn't hesitate an instant to give you the same treatment."

Orion grabbed him before he can turn away. "You _have_ to tell me what you mean. Why is Megatron like this? Why doesn't he love me? Does he love me? What happened to me? Why can't I remember anything?"

"And, in return for all that information?"

Orion couldn't offer anything, because at that moment, the door opened and drones ran in, aiming their cannons at Starscream. The brave Seeker ducked behind Orion and hid.

"Hold your fire! Please!" He thought that since he was Megatron's mate, he should have _some_ sort of sway with the troops, but they just ran after Starscream and chased him out into the hall. Before he could follow them, two drones stopped him.

"Stay here, Pax. It's dangerous."

"But, I…"

"Megatron's orders," the drone snapped. "You wouldn't defy his orders, would you?"

Orion backed up, shaking his helm firmly. "No, I would not…"

Megatron came to check on him later. Orion had been caught roaming the halls and he saw _something_ happen to a blue motorcycle. She had screamed for someone called Optimus, which is what Starscream had called him earlier.

Orion was feeling very confused, and who was supposed to help him through such confusing times?

His mate.

Unfortunately, Megatron told him to forget the whole incident happened and suggested that he should return to his project of decoding the Iacon database. Orion felt less like his mate and more like his clerk. He frowned at his mate, but he nodded slightly and walked back to his post.

He tapped the keys absently, stopping half-way through a code. He had been researching on his spare time, trying to figure out what had happened during his absence.

He got up the courage to search for Optimus Prime in the data entries. What he got was a strangely familiar mech, and high security codes.

"Optimus Prime," he read, "is the leader of the Autobots." He frowned at that one sentence. "But Megatron told me that Ratchet was the leader of the Autobot aggressors. Someone is not telling the truth…"

He had spent a good three hours researching the Autobots, and he wasn't closer to figuring out what had happened to him than when he had started. The Autobots didn't sound like the kind of Cybertronians to kidnap and hold a prisoner hostage. He felt strangely…drawn to them, as if they would know the answers to his many questions.

He had to find them, with or without Megatron's permission. But for now, he had to pretend the whole incident didn't happen, like how his mate had suggested.

He turned off the computer, stretched slightly, and then padded down to Megatron's room. Before he could open the door, Soundwave opened it, stepped out, and gave him a small nod before he walked down the hall to his own quarters.

Orion felt a surge of jealousy, and then betrayal, but it all washed away when Megatron purred for him to come in.

"Have you succeeded today, my dear?"

"I have decoded four Autobot codes… I am rustier than I had previously thought."

"We are allowed for a small margin of error. Come, lay with me?"

Orion reluctantly settled down with his mate, but it didn't feel right. It was as if he didn't belong there.

As if he belonged somewhere else.


	3. Chapter 3

Orion hesitated before finishing decoding another Iacon entry, closing his optics as Megatron walked in.

"Orion Pax, my lovely mate, how goes Project Iacon?"

"Well. I have concluded that the entries consist of coordinates on this planet."

"Coordinates leading to historic artifacts or knowledge of the Ancients?" Megatron stood beside him.

"My greatest fear would be weapons of mass destruction, shipped off-world to keep them out of other's servos…"

"So we must find them quickly," Megatron said and he kissed his cheek.

"Yes…" Orion closed his optics and he heaved a sigh. "Megatron?"

"Yes?"

"I can't let you do this…"

"Do what?"

"Go after these relics. They were shipped off Cybertron for a reason. I fear you will use them against the Autobots, who appear to be the good guys more and more."

"And how would you know this, Orion?"

Orion looked away and he frowned. "I feel it in my spark…"

"Could it also have something to do with your side-project?" Megatron tapped a key and the monitor displayed images of Optimus Prime, images of all the Autobots, images of the Autobots _helping_ others.

"I just wanted to know…"

Megatron swung his arm, and he back-handed the surprised data clerk. He growled and he made the younger mech submit. "You want to know everything, and sometimes you learn and know too much for your own good, Pax!"

"Megatron, I'm sorry…" Orion whined up at him. He didn't understand why Megatron was so angry. "Please don't be mad… I'm sorry…"

"You better be."

Orion could have been in for a greater punishment, but he was saved when the door opened and I drone padded in.

"Lord Megatron, Soundwave has something very interesting to show you."

Megatron stepped away from Orion. "Very well. Guard the prisoner." He addressed Orion then. "If you have not completed the Iacon database by the time I return, I will cut out your spark before your very optics."

Orion knew he meant it. Tears welled up in his optics as he slowly backed up to the monitor and he tapped on the keys obediently. He did not want to be hit. He wanted his mate back, but he knew that that was impossible.

Megatron had changed.

And he couldn't change him back.

Orion stood in the room, hearing the drones chatter to themselves. He turned to them. "I believe that Megatron will use these doomsday devices against the Autobots. Come on. We could warn them."

He was then knocked to his belly, and the drones made sure he got the idea that he was outnumbered, and not welcome. He was kicked, beaten, punched, and he begged for mercy, but they laughed and mocked him.

Then one drone laid him over the keyboard and Orion heard a panel slide back. He whimpered and squirmed.

"Megatron said to punish him accordingly," the drone muttered. Orion dug his digits into the keyboard. "It feels good to finally use the leader of the Autobots the way I've always wanted to."

Orion looked up at the image of the Prime, the leader of the Autobots. He blinked tears out of his optics when he saw the picture stare down at him. The mech in the picture was a brave mech, a mech that he looked up to (and not just literally). He snarled softly, surprising himself as he kicked the drone back and out of him. "Enough!" He whirled on them, then his servos were replaced with…cannons? He was armed?

The drones hesitated, looking at each other in surprise. Orion took that opportunity to fire…

…and he _missed_. He was a _terrible_ shot!

"Well, our fun is over," the drone that had once been in Orion said with a shrug. He charged his cannon.

That made Orion heat up with anger, and he tried again.

This time he hit his marks and he stepped over their bodies.

"Sorry," he whispered down at them. He started to walk down the hall before he realized that he was completely lost and had no idea where he was going.

It took a few threats and a few drones, but Orion finally found Megatron and his SpaceBridge. He drew his cannons and he chirped shyly for his former mate to turn. "Megatron…"

The warlord turned and he blinked in surprise at the mech before him. "Orion… Or should I say Optimus Prime now?"

"I do not know who or what I was before, and no doubt you were involved with my forgetting. But I know now that I am sided with the Autobots, and you are not one of us." He ran at Megatron.

He wasn't sure what he was expecting when he did, but he wasn't expecting an easy victory.

And he didn't expect a fist smashing into his abdomen, either. He fell to his servos and knees, gasping and whimpering. He whined for his mate, whined for what he had before he started to question. He wished he could go back and forget, forget completely…

And then he saw the Autobots.

A medic laid on his belly, his optics closed and his limbs in awkward positions, but other than the obvious fact that he was not breathing regularly, he looked like he was sleeping. He fell in love with him immediately, and he wanted to curl up and be in a peaceful near-death slumber as well.

His optics found a bulky mech, an obvious warrior, and an obvious softy. He whined for him to stir, and he did slightly. His mouth moved and he sighed a name. "Optimus…"

The last mech was a little mech with door wings that fluttered and twitched gently in time with his breaths and his spark pulses. Orion felt the urge to protect him, and he whined loudly up at Megatron.

"You've hurt them!"

"Of course," Megatron chuckled. "They attacked first. You would say it was self-defense."

His optics fell on the smaller mech. "But he's so tiny…"

"He is a warrior, and I treated him as such. You should know that I have the right to defend myself against _anyone_ who attacks me."

Orion saw a blue femme run through the SpaceBridge and he blinked when the little femme tackled Megatron to the ground. She was _furious_ and Orion was impressed with her skill and with her ferocity.

He looked down, about to get up from his belly, and he saw the tiny fleshy being. The little being lifted his servo and he showed him the Key to Vector Sigma, something he had only seen once, and that was a picture.

If the being had it that would mean…

"Are you certain that I am worthy?"

The being nodded and he held up the Key higher. "You have no idea."

The memories were being transferred into him, or rather the Matrix of Leadership. Orion was surprised to see that it was already nestled in his chest.

The memories were strong, and they were powerful as they found their way into his helm.

_Solus purred as she leaned against him, kissing his cheek. "I love you, Optimus. We're going to be together forever."_

And then pain.

_"Optimus, no! Optimus, stay with me, please… Optimus!"_

Tears rolled down Orion's cheeks.

_"He is to be called Orion."_

_ "Orion!"_

_ "Hi, Orion!"_

_ "How are you today, Orion?"  
"Orion, are you okay?"_

Gentle optics, gentle servos.

Gentle.

_"Optimus." The medic that Orion had seen earlier kissed his face. "Optimus…"_

Orion closed his optics and his chest plates folded back over the Matrix. He wiped his tears, hearing Megatron roar in outrage. He moved to face the leader of the Decepticons and he caught the sword in his servos.

"Megatron…"

The battle mask slid over his mask.

He was no longer Orion Pax.

He had kissed that life goodbye.

He was Optimus Prime.

He was the Last of the Primes.

He was the leader of the Autobots.

And he was back.

When he opened his optics, he saw fear and shock spread over Megatron's face.

"Be gone."

He let Megatron have it. He beat Megatron back with all the anger and all the rage that he possessed in his body. He gave a third punch that sent Megatron flying, and then he looked back at the Autobots, _his_ Autobots.

"Ratchet, how have we arrived here?"

The medic, his mate, nudged his shoulder fondly. "Long story, Optimus. Jump through that GroundBridge!"

He made sure his family went through first before he finally jumped through himself. He smirked at Megatron's scream of rage as the GroundBridge closed.

Optimus found himself in front of the Autobots as they cheered, sobbed, and hugged each other to provide comfort for each other.

He slowly pulled away from the celebration. He didn't like to celebrate, not because he didn't want to, but because he would celebrate when it was right.

"Optimus?"

He turned to see Arcee walking to him with concern in her optics. "Yes, Arcee?"

"You were with Megatron for a long time. What did he have you do? What happened to you while you were with him?"

Optimus closed his optics. He didn't remember everything, but he remembered being tucked against Megatron, being attacked by Megatron, fearing Megatron all over again…

And he remembered the rape.

He whined softly. "I do not remember…"

He wanted to keep the personal things to himself, part way to make the illusion that he was fine mentally and physically, and because he wanted to remember Megatron as Megatronus, and not the warlord he knew know.

"I just wanted to know, Optimus… It's good to have you back. We really missed you."

"And I have missed you all," he whispered as the femme walked away.

_At least when I knew you were a part of my life. I never want to forget again. I will be here as long as I possibly can. I won't ever leave you unless I am sure it is time, and that you will be safe without me._


End file.
